Echochamber

A number of writers, such as Richard Allison (Letters, 21 May), who regularly contribute letters to this newspaper, appear to delight in repeatedly listing perceived failures of the Scottish Government without any attempt at presenting a wider context referencing the relative performances of the UK government and governments elsewhere, never mind any balance acknowledging Scottish Government successes.

Of course, if one’s objective is to convince oneself, or those inhabiting the same echo chamber, of the merits of one’s own opinions, it is much easier to do so if one ignores any wider context. Unfortunately for such contributors, the general public are not so dogmatic in their views and can see for themselves that for every example listed a comparable, if not more significant failing, can be witnessed in the actions of other governments.

Furthermore, the electorate will make up their own minds as to which of our politicians they trust to genuinely attempt to act in the best interests of the public as a whole, and which politicians are focused on their own selfinterest and on enriching their pals and already wealthy party donors.

This does not mean that we should accept failings of the Scottish Government, but as in life, lessons can be learned from mistakes made and progress achieved through honest reflection and constructive proposals, often arising through assessing the experiences of others as well as one’s own.

But surely, if nothing else, the disdain for the electorate evidenced through “Partygate”, the gross deceit around “getting Brexit done” and the massive scale of cronyism and corruption in the awarding of PPE contracts by the UK government, has clearly demonstrated that Scotland will be better served in future by an independent proportionately representative government with integrity in Holyrood than a non-representative narrowly-focused and dishonest government in Westminster.

STAN GRODYNSKI Longniddry, East Lothian